By Ed Frankl
New orders at German factories fell unexpectedly in April, signaling continued declining demand in the country’s key manufacturing sector especially among foreign orders.
Manufacturing orders ticked down 0.4% in April on month, after a plunge of 10.9% in March, according to seasonally and calendar adjusted-data released Tuesday by the German statistics office Destatis.
The reading upturns expectations of a 3.0% rise seen by economists in a poll by The Wall Street Journal.
Foreign orders dropped by 1.8% in April on the previous month, though domestic orders rose by 1.6%, Destatis said, indicating that demand for German goods is subdued outside its borders.
Data from a purchasing managers survey showed weakening sentiment at German factories in May, suggesting that the sector could continue to weaken.
The fall was driven by declining construction of ships, railways, aircraft, and army vehicles, orders of which dived 34% on month, and for the manufacture of machinery and equipment, where it tumbled 6.2%.
However, electrical equipment and motor vehicles saw orders rise 12.0% and 2.4%, respectively.
Excluding the more volatile component of large-scale orders, new orders rose by 1.4% in April on month.
Write to Ed Frankl at [email protected]
